Obamarama

[atothek]

So resk  has pointed out to me that while I was quick to express my outrage here about Obama's choice of Rick Warren to speak at the inauguration and my decision to stop supporting both him and the entire Democratic Party, I have been silent here about the fact that I have come around on this issue.

I am still angry, and moreover confused, that Rick

Comments

[4bit4]

I need a new icon, but also take into consideration that Obama is a member of the most queer proactive christian church too. He could have picked any chritian church, but he picked one that is very pro-gay. I dig that.

[jphotog]

I hadn't read this yet, but it's awesome. He's already made major inroads into reversing some of the Bush damage, and it's only been two days. Rick Warren was a regrettable choice, but it was a move designed to get done what he needs to get done using the people who believe Rick Warren was a good choice.

Also, did you happen to see the Gene Robinson bit on the Daily Show? There was a priceless bishop/queen chess joke in there at the beginning :)

[ikkarus01]

That Daily Show joke was awesome. I don't know if it was a deliberate, scripted setup, or just off-the-cuff, but the timing and delivery was spot-on. Good show, Gene Robinson. Good show.

[minkrose]

Additional to the Daily Show bit - Robinson mentions that he's been a part of the campaign for some time, giving them advice on GLBT issues. So they aren't ignoring the GLBT community.

[k_sui]

Tread warily. Politicians are by definition political and while it seems unlikely the LGBT community would be one that President Obama would toss out of the boat, it's not like it hasn't happened before. (Thanks, President Clinton.) And it is the one that evangelical Christians tend to get the most agitated about. It's right up there with reproductive rights. That makes it a classic wedge issue.

[resk]

Yeah, that was the point I was trying to make when atothek and I were discussing it. Gay Rights have come a long way, and Obama appears to be a supporter, yet he said he was against gay marriage during his campaign. Why? The answer is simple. If he had supported gay marriage, he would have lost. The country isn't ready for it yet. The sane, intelligent, open-minded people are, but that's currently slightly less than half the population.

[k_sui]

Do you really think that would have killed his candidacy? I think his electoral coattails would have shrunk, but I don't think he loses.

[resk]

I think it would have changed the game, for sure. But so many things could have. Remember, Hillary won the popular vote by 500,000 between the two of them. And if the Reverend Wright thing had happened earlier on, he would've been sunk.

more things

[minkrose]

I haven't been able to formalize my thoughts on Warren. Basically, I didn't get that upset. I think Obama wants to listen to everyone, including crazy people. I also think that his religious image was tarnished with the Christian community. I don't think he makes these decisions without thinking, but I also expect him to make choices I'm not going to like, because there's never going to be a politician who can make me happy all the time. I'd rather he got re-elected.

Personally, I was going to post the Civil Rights thing on my LJ as well (it's been sitting in an open tab on my home computer since Tuesday afternoon). I'm sure they did this in response to all the emails and suggestions they got through Change.gov - I sent them at least one myself. I think people are quick to blame but very slow to check and see if anything was fixed or done to change. I'm glad you posted this!!

Re: more things

[resk]

Basically, I didn't get that upset. I think Obama wants to listen to everyone, including crazy people.

This was, in part, my reaction as well. By choosing Warren, Obama was saying, "Here's a person of very extreme views, but I'm willing to trust him to do something important." And Warren did a fine job with the invocation. There were no anti-gay slurs.

Re: more things

[atothek]

See, I don't buy that. This isn't deciding to have dinner with someone, the people who speak at inauguration are chosen extremely carefully and deliberately to send a message about the tone of the administration. I find it hard to believe that Obama either 1. didn't know about Rick Warren's extremist views 2. Didn't think they would be a big deal to the LGBT community, or 3. Didn't care and deliberately chose someone that would piss off this entire group of supporters. None of those seems terribly likely or understandable, leaving me confused about the choice.

Re: more things

[coffeejedi]

I thought I read somewhere that Obama's people didn't actually put Warren in there, it was some senate committee or somesuch.

[atdt1991]

That's awesome!